A cattle baron takes in an orphaned boy and raises him, causing his own son to resent the boy. As they get older the resentment festers into hatred, and eventually the real son frames his stepbrother for fathering an illegitimate child that is actually his, seeing it as an opportunity to get his half-brother out of the way so he can have his father's empire all to himself.
Reviewer:
mmedefarge
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December 25, 2023 Subject:
first cowboy western
I know perfectly well that in Desert Fury, Lancaster played a former rodeo rider, but in VV he's a full-up cowboy, and I love the way he sat that restive
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white-face horse -- like he was glued to the saddle. The plot is kind of formulaic: foster brothers who turned out differently, with Burt the good boy of course. But it's simply written, quickly paced, good dialog, beautiful locations, and sympathy instead of hand-wringing over Lily's illegitimate baby -- a hard thing to find in 1951. This was the only time Lancaster worked for MGM; he was on loan from Wallis. Due to making this film, Lancaster and Hecht rewrote Ten Tall Men, turning it from a western into a French Foreign Legion film, which most leading men did under the studio system but Burt never had. There were too many westerns being made about this time. Lancaster would not do another until he and Coop teamed up for Vera Cruz. Geek tip: Walker's son was Charlie X in ST:TOS.
Reviewer:
porterville
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March 4, 2012 Subject:
Robert Walker & Burt Lancaster Excellent in "Vengeance Valley"
This was a good transition role, playing the part of Lee Strobie, for actor Robert Walker who had played boy next door roles. His next role after "Vengeance
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Valley" would be playing Bruno Anthony in Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." Walker plays nicely opposite Burt Lancaster, the latter turning in his usual strong performance. The supporting cast is good and the plot moves along nicely. One of the better westerns on Internet Archive.